About

Kicking Ice : A Graphic Novel About Women's Hockey

$35,544

pledged of $17,000 goal

779

backers

Kicking Ice is an all-ages graphic novel from Ominous Press about girls playing ice hockey written by Stephanie Phillips, drawn by Lee Moder, and colored by Marissa Louise. In partnership with the National Women's Hockey League, a portion of all sales goes to the NWHL to support the players and the growth of women's hockey.

Kicking Ice tells the story of two young female hockey players, Bella and Skye, who dream of playing professional hockey in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). Bella and Skye are the only girls on their co-ed hockey team and learn to overcome bullying from some of their male opponents. In particular, a rival player named Derek likes to tease Bella and Skye by telling them that girls will never be as good at hockey as boys. Of course, Bella and Skye prove that kicking ice isn't just for boys.

Kicking Ice is about the importance of equality in sports. The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) is the first paid, professional hockey league for women. Founded in 2015, the NWHL offers a place for the top female players to continue playing after college. The existence of the NWHL also means that young girls, like Bella and Skye, can dream of playing professional ice hockey.

This project is a celebration of women in sports and the amazing progress of the many pioneers who are helping to make professional women's hockey a reality.

The goal of this project is to create a full-color graphic novel. We plan to release the story as a collected softcover and hardcover edition with loads of extra content, including an introduction written by the commissioner of the NWHL, Dani Rylan. Along with the full Kicking Ice story, the graphic novel will also include character sketches and other bonus material!

We are thrilled to offer custom Kicking Ice nail wraps courtesy of Espionage Cosmetics. These wraps include 11 different sizes (22 individual wraps) to fit almost all nail sizes. The design is an alternating design between the jersey logo from the book and hockey pucks. The wraps also glow in the dark because GLOW. IN. THE. DARK.

Wraps come in custom Kicking Ice packaging featuring application instructions and a nail file. There is no heat or other tools required for applying the wraps and they last for about two weeks.

You can get your own wraps at either the $20 level or $40 level. You can also message us to add these wraps to a pre-existing order.

Stephanie is a writer and PhD student in Tampa, FL. Stephanie has written about women's hockey for SB Nation and has played roller and ice hockey since she was in middle school. Stephanie is bringing her love of hockey to Kicking Ice as the writer and creator.

Marissa Louise is a colorist living in the misty woods of Oregon. A graduate of Pratt Institute of Fine Arts, she's worked for Marvel, DC, Albatross and many other publishers, and is lending her coloring talents to Kicking Ice.

Favorite NWHL Team: Buffalo BeautsFavorite NHL Team: Buffalo Sabres

Troy Peteri has lettered for many major publishers, including Top Cow and Image. Troy is bringing his lettering talents to Kicking Ice.

Favorite NWHL Team: Metropolitan Riveters Favorite NHL Team: LA Kings

Mystery Stretch Goal:

Our mystery stretch goal will include an added section to ALL books that features articles and essays about the history of women’s hockey. This section is a collaboration between writers who have been helping put women’s hockey on the map, such as Hannah Bevis, Meredith Foster, Robyn Flynn, Erica Ayala, Mike Murphy, and more! From the US Women’s National Team, to the National Women’s Hockey League, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, and college hockey, we plan to give you a look at how the sport has grown. The passionate and talented writers behind many well-known media outlets are working to bring you engaging and informative content. Whether you are new to women’s hockey or a long-time fan, we plan to have something for everyone.

Contact Us: Click the icon for Ominous Press, and then the Contact button. We are here to make your experience smooth and problem free. You can also give us a call at (855) 743-4650!

Add-Ons: We are happy to assist with any add-ons through an over-pledge. Email us to let us know what you would like to add, and we will accommodate your request as best as possible. Please email us at info@kickingice.com for add-on requests!

International Shipping: When ordering from outside the United States, we can combine shipping for you to get the best rate possible.

How do we do it?? Our Kickstarter fulfillment is driven by the industry's best: Backerkit. BackerKit is a backer survey and data management platform that helps crowdfunding creators send surveys, sell add-ons and pre-orders, and manage backer data for rewards fulfillment.

Your participation is the driving force of this campaign. We very literally cannot do this without you. Our sincere thanks for considering us, and supporting us.

Risks and challenges

The experiences creative and production team have worked in the comic book industry for more than 70 years collectively and will work to ensure that the overall product and story is the best that it can be. Stephanie Phillips, Lee Moder, Marissa Louise, Sean HusVar, and Ron Marz have been working on the concept, design, story, artwork, and production of the comic for the last few months. With work on the project already completed, we are able to cut down on some of the production time and campaign risks. We want to make sure the presentation and product are the best they be for our backers.

Stephanie Phillips, Sean HusVar, and everyone on the team understand the trust that it takes for you to back our work. Sean HusVar is also responsible for multiple successful Kickstarter campaigns and brings a wealth of Kickstarter experience to this project. We will do everything we can to complete and ship the project on time. However, there is always a risk that unforeseen circumstances could delay the shipping date for a short time. We promise to ensure communication between our team and you, the backers, on a regular basis as we move towards project completion.

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Softcover Edition + Shirt

A 64-page physical, softcover copy of Kicking Ice with cover art by Lee Moder. This reward level also includes a Kicking Ice t-shirt in Navy with the logo on the front of the shirt. Child and adult sizes available.